nitrate problems in a 75g reef

[Keelo]

hello reef central, i have been digging and scrambling through all the forums here to try and find help for my tank as i am battling high nitrates. No matter what i do i cant seem to lower them down to under 25ppm. i feel like my system has everything that it takes to make a good reef but these damn nitrates are killing me! if anyone here has any advice for me i would really appreciate the help. Ive been leaning to carbon dosing because right now it seems like its my only option. Im really bummed out because i just got my hydra led lights ready to go for more corals and i cant work my way around this problem. I will try to post pictures of my setup so everyone can see. The specs are as follow:
-75 gallon , 30 gallon sump with protein skimmer ( Aquamaxx CO1 , refugium with chaeto no filter socks or sponges )
- two wp 25 powerheads in main display with DC controllable return pump
- stock list is blue tang, 2 clowns, and 6 line wrasse( so far he is a sissy no aggression so far) i feed once a day new life spectrum pellets and make sure they eat everything, have clean up crew as well snails and hermits, kenya trees , blasto , mushrooms , and zoas.

Any help is much appreciated here as i am lost as to why the hell i have high nitrates.
Thank you

[Xxero]

How much rock do you have?

Do you perform partial water changes?

[Keelo]

I have about 80 pounds of rock in there most in the display and some in my refugium. I do 20 gallon water changes every 12-15 days I use Rodi water free of nitrates and phosphates. I'm going to try to post pictures I don't really know how to post them on the thread so everyone can see


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[Xxero]

Originally Posted by Keelo

I have about 80 pounds of rock in there most in the display and some in my refugium. I do 20 gallon water changes every 12-15 days I use Rodi water free of nitrates and phosphates. I'm going to try to post pictures I don't really know how to post them on the thread so everyone can see


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A lot of people upload their pictures onto Photobucket or something similar, and then use the 'Insert Image' icon on here (yellow square with mountains) to post the pic from there.

When you say, "No matter what I do", exactly what have you done?

And how long have your Nitrates been at 25ppm?

[Keelo]

Okay I'll try to do that tomorrow with better lighting, I just performed a 20 gallon water change and I have not seen a drop in nitrates. The nitrates started going up once I began to have skimmer problems.


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[Keelo]

I'm just confused as to how they can be so high when many people tell me I have a low bio load despite the tang and I feed sparingly


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[Keelo]

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[Keelo]

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[Keelo]

okay so this is the tank itself the sump is a bit dark for a good image right now tomorrow i will post images of that.

[Xxero]

Originally Posted by Keelo

I'm just confused as to how they can be so high when many people tell me I have a low bio load despite the tang and I feed sparingly


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Well as you said, if you were having skimmer issues at some point, then that definitely weakened your defense system against the Nitrates. I have found that once they creep up >20ppm, our routine partial water changes won't do much (if anything) to knock them back down.

I think that if your skimmer is back up and performing well, then a few BIG water changes will help to bring them back down. Thoroughly clean all of your equipment; blow off your rockwork; maybe tumble/siphon part of your sandbed....then perform a couple of back-to-back 50%+ water changes.

This should significantly reduce the Nitrates. Afterwards, just keep up on your partial water changes; maintain your skimmer; and make sure that your Chaeto is growing to where you are harvesting regularly. If your Chaeto is not growing well enough to harvest, then it's not doing anything towards Nitrate exportation. If that is the case, I would suggest ditching it and replacing it with an Algae Turf Scrubber or carbon dosing.

HTH!

[Xxero]

Nice tank, btw.

[Keelo]

Yea I haven't noticed my chaeto grow much. I don't have much room for an algae turf scrubber at this point my only option I would say is vinegar or vodka dosing but I'm a little hesitant and scared to go about this method. Have you had any success with this Xxero? I'll try to post a picture of my sump maybe an ats would fit just not that much of diy person.


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[Xxero]

I have personally used Red Sea's NO3:PO4x and I know that it works. Vinegar/Vodka dosing works as well, but it is best to follow the charts and instructions when doing so. Here is a link to Vinegar dosing and the compatible chart:

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index....arine-aquarium

Before you do anything though, I really believe if you get your Nitrates back down via cleaning and a couple of BIG BIG BIG water changes, you will be fine. You have a lot of rock and, as you said, a small bio-load, so things should work out in the end. Nitrates are creepers and sometimes things get away from us. If after a bit of tidying up and a couple of BIG water changes your Nitrates still haven't budged, then you may consider the carbon route.

With your tank and sump you probably have around 85-90'ish gallons. I would do two 40-50 gallon water changes if it were me. I think that you'll see a large impact after that. Then just stay on top of things.

[Xxero]

A basic ATS is pretty simple. About halfway down this thread page you can see an example of one that I made. Really easy and it worked very well:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...2549397&page=4

That is my "To Hell With Nitrates" thread from when I was struggling.

[homer1475]

Totally agree with Xxero. Several large water changes of 50+ gallons helped me a ton. Knocked my nitrates back from 80 to under 10. I keep them in check now with a block of marine pure, and weekly 10 gallon water changes. I have roughly the same water volume as you.

[Becks]

You could try seachem denitrate reactor, I used a £5 200lph adjustable pump some plastic connections and a plastic sealable spaghetti tube, cost less than £10 plus the £20 for the de nitrate, I turned done the flow to about 75%

The media never needs to be replaced, just rinsed out every now and then with salt water. But it's important not to exceed 200 litres per hour

[Keelo]

Thanks Xxero I looked at your thread and I like the ATS you build I have a mj1200 that I can also use , how did it work for you? Do you still run it today?


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[Keelo]

I also looked into the seachem denitrate product and though about running it in a reactor that I already have I'm just concerned with flow rate


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[Keelo]

Also can anyone chime in on to why my chaeto doesn't even grow its been the same for about 2 weeks. It's lit for about 14 hours everyday I don't know what I'm doing wrong there either. I think a good fuge could help my nitrates


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[Xxero]

Originally Posted by Keelo

Thanks Xxero I looked at your thread and I like the ATS you build I have a mj1200 that I can also use , how did it work for you? Do you still run it today?


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It worked very well! If you skimmed through that Nitrate thread of mine, you probably saw how impatient I was. Impatient and very frustrated. My Nitrates were stuck at 30ppm for months, and it was driving me mad!

I tried everything, but I only tried everything for about 3 weeks and then I would move on to the next possible solution. Out of everything that I tried, I was most impressed with the ATS. It didn't budge my Nitrates at the time, but again --- I only gave it a few weeks. I guess I was impressed with its potential for Nitrate control. The algae grew quickly on the screen, and I could definitely see how it would serve as a Nitrate sponge.

Do I still use it? Nope.

In my situation, I wanted an immediate removal of my Nitrates. Implementing an ATS; dosing NoPox; dosing vinegar; trying de-nitrate and other media --- all of those would have worked...eventually. But I wanted them gone. So I cleaned everything (equip., rocks, sand, sump, etc.) and performed a 100% water change over the course of about 2 hours.

The result was an immediate drop in Nitrates from 30ppm down to 10, and within a week they were <5ppm. It wasn't long after this that I upgraded my entire system, and now I rely on a macroalgae refugium and my protein skimmer for Nitrate exportation.

[Keelo]

Oh okay I see, it seems you and nitrates had something personal lol I want to implement a ats just not sure of its effectiveness. So far I'm leaning towards vinegar dosing. I'll post a picture soon of my sump maybe someone can help me out why my chaeto is not growing maybe that can also be a cause for the nitrates. I'm just curious but what have you done since you lowered the nitrates, in terms of keeping them low ?


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[tmz]

After a time organic arbon dosing will keep NO3 down. It can take months to get at established NO3. Water changes to bring it down prior to carbon dosing help.

Alternatively , you might want to consider a sulfur denitrator.

[Keelo]

I was looking into the sulfur denitrator but those can be very pricey


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[Keelo]

Buying the hydra led lights depleted all my cash. Being in college I don't really have the opportunity to spend a lot in the tank. I jut want to make it as maintenance free as possible as I'm away from the tank most weekdays only weekends is when I can be around it. Thus for me I think an ats or vinegar with dosing pump is my best bet


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[Xxero]

Originally Posted by Keelo

I'm just curious but what have you done since you lowered the nitrates, in terms of keeping them low ?

With my system upgrade, I added a display macroalgae fuge:





I currently use the macroalgae, a protein skimmer, and a Marinepure block for my Nitrate exportation. Nitrates stay under 5ppm.